Bank of America Unlimited Cash: [Up to 2.625% Cash Back]
REVIEW

At A Glance: Great Card for BOA Platinum Honors Checking Account Customers

The Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Card is a great flat rate cash back credit card for those who bank with Bank of America. Those with more than $100,000 in their checking account can earn 2.625% cash back on all purchases. This is much better than the 2% that you would earn more the better flat rate credit cards. In addition to the great earning rates, you also get a generous $200 sign up bonus when you spend $1,000 within 90 days (a very easy hurdle) and a good 0% APR deal for 15 months on both purchases and balance transfers.

Cash Back Program Explaination

The Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Visa allows you to earn cash back from 1.5% to 2.62% depending on how much you have in your Bank of America checking accounts and/or Merrill Lynch accounts. You can earn unlimited cash back which does not expire. Here is a detailed breakdown.

Earning Cash Back

Accounts less than $20,000 - BOA customers who have less than $20,000 in their checking accounts or combined BOA/Merrill accounts will earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

Accounts between $20,000 and $50,000 - Those who have between $20,000 and $50,000 are considered Gold Preferred Rewards members and will earn 25% more cash back. Than means you can earn (25% X 1.5%) = 1.875% cash back on all purchases.

Accounts between $50,000 and $100,000 - Accounts between $50,000 and $100,000 are considered Platinum Preferred Rewards members and will earn 50% more cash back. That equals (50% X 1.5%) = 2.25% cash back on all purchases.

Accounts greater than $100,000 - Accounts with greater amounts than $100,000 are considered Platinum Honors Preferred Rewardsd members and will earn 75% more cash back. That equals (75% X 1.5%) = 2.625% cash back on all purchases.

Redeeming Cash Back

There are various ways to redeem your cash back. Each comes with it's own rules and querks.

Statement Credit - You can redeem your cash back as a statement credit. However, you cannot set up automatic redemption if you choose to redeem this way. Instead, you have to manually select this redemption when you want to. There is no minimum amount required if you redeem for statement credits.

Deposit in Checking or Savings Account - You can redeem cash back into your checking account either on a one-time basis or set up auto redemption. There is no minimum amount required for one-time redemptions. For automatic redemptions, the minimum is $25.

Eligible Cash Management Accounts - There are two ways to redeem cash back into your CMA account. The first is a one-time credit into your account. You might do this to offset annual fee or transaction fees. If you redeem this way, there is no minimum redemption amount. You can also set up automatic redemption as deposits into your CMA account. The minimum for this is $25.

529 Account - You cannot set up automatic redemption into a Merrill 529 account. Instead, you have to perform one-time redemptions with a $25 minimum.

Key Card Details

Annual Fee	$0
Regular APR	13.99% - 23.99% *Variable
Sign Up Bonus	$200 after $1,000 spending within 90 days
0% APR Deal	0% APR for 15 months (purchases and balance transfer)
Balance Transfer Fee	Greater o 3% of transfer amount (min $10)
Free Credit Score	FICO score by either TransUnion

Competition

Card	Annual Fee	Cash Back	Redemption
Bank of America Unlimited Cash	$0	2%	Eligible Fidelity Accounts
Fidelity Rewards Visa	$0	2%	Eligible Fidelity Accounts
SoFi Credit Card	$0	2%	SoFi Loans or Investment Accounts
BlockFi	$0	$0	TD Checking Account
AOD Visa Signature	$0	3%	Statement Credits
Citi DoubleCash	$0	2%	Any Checking Account
Alliant Cash Back Visa	$0	2.5%	Alliant Checking Account
Wells Fargo Active Cash	$0	2%	Wells Fargo Accounts or Mortgage
TD Double Up	$0	2%	TD Checking Account

First, let me make a point about the BOA Unlimited Cash Rewards Card. This is one of the rare flat rate credit cards where the cash back you earn depends on how much money you have with BOA/Merrill Lynch. You could earn 2.62% cash back on all puchases if you have Platinum Honors status. If you have less than $20,000, you will only earn 1.5% cash back.

For the sake for comparing this card with it's peers, we will assume that anyone who gets this card is at least a Platinum Preferred Rewards level and can earn more than 2% cash back.

Comparison with 2% credit cards

If you are a Platinum or Platinum Honors Preferred Rewards members, you will earn more than 2% cash back and hence be better off with this card. Most other 2% flat rate credit cards require that you have a checking account with the issuer. The Bank of America Unlimited Cash is no different. You would need a BOA checking or savings account and/or eligible Merrill Lynch accounts. The only flat rate card we know that allows you to redeem your cash back with any checking account is the Citi Double Cash and the Paypal 2% Mastercard. However, both only earns 2% cash back which is less than what the BOA Unlimited Cash 2.25% or 2.62% cash back if you have either Platinum or Platium Honors Preferred Rewards Status.

Compared with other brokerage credit cards

The other two main credit cards from brokerages are the Fidelity Cash Rewards Visa and the Charles Schwab Amex. The Fidelity Cash Rewards Visa allows you to earn 2% cash back if you redeem them into eligible Fidelity accounts. The Schwab Amex only allows you to earn 1.5%. So from a cash back perspective, the BOA Unlimited Cash beats both these cards if you are a Platinum or Platinum Honors Preferred Rewards level. However, the Fidelity card allows you to redeem cash back to more accounts. For example, you can redeem cash back to Fidelity's IRA accounts, HSA accounts, 529 accounts and cash management accounts. In contrast, BOA allows you to redeem your cash back with only Merrill's CMA account and 529 accounts (you can obviously redeem them into your checking account or as statement credits).

Compared to cards with more than 2% cash back The Bank of America Unlimited Cash is one of three flat rate credit cards that give cardholders more than 2% cash back. The other two cards are the AOD Visa Signature and the Alliant Cash Back Visa. The AOD Visa Signature gives you a flat 3% cash back so in terms of cash back rewards, it beats the BOA Unlimited Cash. The Alliant Cash Back Visa lets you earn 2.5% cash back on all purchases. To qualify to 2.5% cash back, you have to jump through a few hoops (please read our review) though you do not need $100,000 in your checking account like BOA.

Compared to flat rate crypto credit cards

While crypto credit cards are not yet a force in the market, you have to be aware that there are flat rate credit cards. For example, the BlockFi Rewards Visa offers cardholders the ability to earn 1.5% back in cryptos for up to $50,000 in annual spending. Spending above $50,000 allows you to earn 2% back in crypto. For those who invest in crypto, this card offers a great alternative to a traditional fiat cash back credit card like the BOA Unlimited Cash.

Pros: What We Like

• Can earn up to 2.62% flat rate cash back - Those who have Platinum Honors checking account ($101,000) can earn 2.65% flat rate cash back for all purchases. 2.65% is certainly higher than 1.5%, but also higher than 2% which is pretty much the standard for flat rate credit cards these days.


• Variety of redemption methods - This card allows you to redeem your cash back to your checking or savings account, eligible Merrill accounts or just a simple statement credit.


• Free FICO Score - Cardholders will get a free FICO score that is updated every month from TransUnion.

Cons: What We Don't Like

• Need Platinum Honors Checking Account to earn 2.62% cash back - To earn the maximum 2.62% cash back on all purchases, you need to be a Platinum Honors level for your checking account and that requires you to have at least $101,000 in your checking account. If you are at Platinum Level for your checking account ($50,000), you will earn 2.25% cash back. If you are at Gold Level ($20,000), you get 1.875% cash back, less than the 2% cash back that you can get with many other flat rate cash back cards.


• Can only redeem to Bank of America or Merrill Lynch accounts - Though you can redeem your cash back in both your Bank of America checking accounts and eligible Merrill Lynch accounts, you cannot redeem them to a non-BOA or Non-Merrill account.

Our Take: Beats your average 2% cash back credit card

SPOLIER ALERT: The Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Visa is a great flat rate cash back credit card IF you have a banking relationship with Bank of America or Merrill Lynch and you have at least $50,000 in an account with them. Better still, have more than $100,000 with them and you can earn 2.62% cash back for every spending on the card. 2.62% is higher than the typical 2% offered by most good flat rate cash back cards these days though they do not beat the 3% offered by the AOD Visa Signature. The thing I really like about this card is that you can redeem your cash back in a variety of ways. The most common will be to have a direct deposit into your checking account. But you can also redeem it into an eligible Merrill Lynch account or even as a statement credit. The other nice thing about this card is that you can get a Free FICO score from TransUnion which is updated every month.

You have to bear in mind that you should not get this card even if you have a BOA checking account but have less than $50,000 in it. If you have between $20,000 and $50,000, you are considered a Gold Preferred Rewards member and will get only 1.85% cash back on your card. And if you have less than $20,000 in your checking account, you will only be able to earn 1.5% cash back.

To sum up, based on our evaluations and review of the Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Visa, we give this a 4.3 star rating for the ability to earn up to 2.62% cash back, it's variety of redemption choices and also the provision of a free FICO score from TransUnion. What prevents us from giving it a higher rating is the fact that you do need to have a banking relationship with BOA and you need to have at $50,000 in your checking account or combined BOA/Merrill Lynch accounts to earn more than 2% cash back. If you do not have a bank account with BOA but are looking for a flat rate cash back credit card that can deposit your cash back into your OWN banking account, then a card like the Citi Double Cash would be a more appropriate card for you.

I’ve had bank of America’s power rewards card since 2006 and BOA has been bombarding me with ads and emails to change my card. I did my own research and really liked the unlimited cash reward card with the 1.5% cash back and since I have a balance of +100k I’m considered platinum honors adding another 75% rewards bonus. Yes, I do earn 2.625% cash back on all my purchases and I happily deposit it into my checking account. Having said all that, if I were not a Platinum Honors members, then I would not have gotten this card as theere are other 2% cards available.

I also decided to get this account because I happened to be a Platinum Honors checkig account holder and have a decent amount with my Merrill brokerage account as well. It's great to be able to earn 2.625% cash back on all my purchases.